Nice Morgan and close ups, but tell me why a 58 ? Expert advise please, only helps with my understanding why not a 62 ?
@jfscmedic Very nice example of an old Morgan first year...I like everyone of them! Here's mine...when I look at it, it's hard to put it down.
That's the first time I've seen the word "Strong" in a coin description. Can someone please explain? Are there "Weak" coins as well?
With the 1878 7/8 TF there were several VAM varieties...I'm not an expert as to how many, but as the rev die wore out from minting thousands of coins, the strike on the underlying 8 tail feathers was either "strong" or "weak" or somewhere in between. Here's more info that describes it much better than I can. http://www.coinfacts.com/silver_dol...organ_dollars/1878_7over8TF_morgan_dollar.htm
These terms apply to the transitional-die 1878-P's, 8 tailfeather dies hubbed over by the newer 7 tailfeather design. Some of the tailfeathers of the older hub are visible under the new one, and PCGS refers to them as that depending on how many are visible (3 for Weak, 4 or more for Strong). This particular coin is a VAM-41B (I think, depending on the clashing), a Top 100 variety. Fish's coin, I think, is a VAM-38. If he shot a closeup of LIBERTY, it would make your eyes blur. It has the strongest doubling of LIBERTY in the entire Morgan series.
Where you won't see it is in the discussions of the variety collectors of Morgan Dollars. 7/8TF's are identified by variety, and O/S coins by Early and Late Die State. The "Weak" connotation lessens the character of the variety being described - the most valuable Morgan variety of them all, the one we call the "King of VAMs,"is the 1878-P VAM-44, a 7/8TF "Weak" example. The "Weak" versions (EDS) of the 1882-O/S varieties (there are three, despite PCGS' lack of interest in differentiating them) are the rarer and more valuable, commanding significant premiums over their "Strong" peers. There's a reason why VAMmers are derisive of PCGS and NGC attribution.
